Rogue
by Green Monkie
Summary: What happens one day in a not so ordinary danger room session. A 'What If' story. Set before season 3 came out.
1. Chapter 1

IMPORTANT TO READERS, PLEASE READ BEFORE YOU ACTUALLY READ THE STORY!!!  
  
This is my first Evo fic so be nice. I also haven't seen the third series of Xmen Evolution, as I live in Australia and Cartoon Network only just decided to buy the rights for season 2. ahh Living down under does have it's disadvantages. Ok now I'm getting off topic now.  
  
This fic does have similarities to another episode from Series 3, "Self Possessed" I think it is. Think of this fic as an AU fic. It's set in the middle of season 2, before Day of Reckoning.  
  
Anyways... on to The Story.. ***  
  
"Rogue," Kitty nudged her southern roommate. "Rogue wake up, we have a danger room session."  
  
'Rogue' groaned and tried to hide herself under the covers, but was given a rude shock when Kitty phased her through the covers.  
  
"Rogue, Logan'll get mad if you're not there," she said slightly louder. Rogue groaned again and started to sit up rubbing her eyes and scratching her lower back.  
  
"What time is it?" she mumbled swinging her legs over the side of her bed.  
  
"4:30,"  
  
Rogue muttered something that Kitty didn't quite catch, (but got the general gist of as) as she pulled her green battle suit over her head,  
  
"No need to swear Rogue," Kitty smiled at her Goth friend who glared straight back at her.  
  
Rogue slipped on her ankle height boots and her usual black gloves. She then looked back up at Kitty, "I have every right to swear. It's 4 friggan 30 in the bloody morning"  
  
"Yeah well take it up with Logan when we get to the danger room." She placed a hand on her friend's shoulder and phased her through the floor, so they avoided walking down 2 flights of stairs and cutting down their time by about 10 minutes.  
  
Once they reached the locker rooms, where everyone was assembled they discovered they were the last ones there. Jean and Cyclops were standing in the corner chatting, Scott with his Ruby-Quarts visor covering his eyes. Spyke and Nightcrawler were both standing in the middle blinking a lot as though they were still waking up. Nightcrawler was rubbing his eyes so hard that little clumps of blue hair was falling to the ground, leaving him with little bald spots in the facial area. Evan looked at the little clumps of hair on the ground and pointed to them and laughed. Kurt looked wide-eyed at the clumps then started laughing as well.  
  
Kitty immediately went over to talk to Kurt, leaving Rogue by herself standing in the doorway.  
  
Rogue sighed as a faint headache started to arise in the back of her head. She shook it off knowing that it was just because of all the early mornings they'd been having lately. Her head wasn't used to it. Her head liked to sleep in until about 12:00 in the afternoon, but while she lived in the institute, the likeliness of that happening was about the same as Logan marrying Hank.  
  
A few minutes after they arrived, Wolverine and Storm walked through the door. Logan cracking his knuckles, something he usually did whenever he was getting ready for a training session or a battle. "Ok, off we go Xmen!" He clapped his hands together then led the way into the danger room's main chamber. Storm following silently behind him.  
  
Everyone filed into the room, except for Rogue who casually walked in behind everyone else. She even took the time to scratcher arm before she seriously became concentrated.  
  
"Combat Exercise 42AX3, " Logan instructed the computer. Immediately the scenery changed, from having metallic walls and floor to a long dark sandy beach. Standing at the other end of the beach (which was, as Rogue estimated, about 100 Metres away.) was the Brotherhood of Mutants, The Xmens' rivals but intermittent allies.  
  
Avalanche, their leader sent a tremor straight at them, causing most people to lose their balance. However Logan and Rogue weren't disturbed by the shaking ground, and Storm and Jean had flown up into the sky to protect themselves.  
  
All four advanced towards the group of six, each preparing themselves for the combat. Rogue ran towards Avalanche, who sneered at her. He sent a small tremor at her that didn't really affect her; she jumped up in the air and kicked him in the stomach. He bent over clutching his stomach, which gave her the chance to 'borrow' his powers.  
  
She felt the familiar rush of energy rush straight into her body, while Lance/Avalanche collapsed unconscious on the ground. As he was only a simulation, she received no memories or his personality that usually was rapidly appearing in her mind. Instead she concentrated on his pseudo "powers", and his ability to control them.  
  
She then surveyed the area around her, who was having the most trouble? Probably Jean with The Blob and Kitty and Spyke with Quicksilver. She concentrated on sending a fault in The Blob's general direction. She felt her eyes roll up into the back of her head and the ground began to rumble underneath her. In her mind she saw the layers of sedimentary rock breaking and slipping as she manipulated them to her needs.  
  
After a few seconds, She stopped. She blinked her eyes back into place and surveyed the damage she did. Sure enough The Blob was down on the ground and Jean was flying over to help Kitty and Spyke. She turned around to help Logan with The Scarlet Witch but the headache she had had earlier hit her again 10 fold. She stumbled forward clutching her head in pain.  
  
The pain didn't stop there, As well as the headache increasingly getting worse, little red marks popped up all over her skin. They burned and itched at the same time, both to such extremities that she rubbed and tore at her skin as though she was really on fire. The red marks soon became big lumps, with little dark red heads. They were so agonising that she screamed out in pain.  
  
Her scream drew the attention of several of the other members of the Xmen. Scott who was closest ran over and grabbed her hands, to stop her from scratching the ugly lumps.  
  
"Calm down!" he said sternly to her, hoping that it would work  
  
"But they hurt so much!!" she cried struggling against his grip on her arms.  
  
By now the Rest of the Xmen had stopped and formed a circle around Rogue and Scott who was holding her arms out. Scott looked up at Nightcrawler who was standing in front of him. "Hey Kurt, zap us to the infirmary," Scott told him quietly.  
  
"Vatever you say Scott," He replied his voice coated in his thick German accent. He placed a hand on Rogue's shoulder and Scott's head and *BAMF*ed to the infirmary.  
  
Hank McCoy was looking at his computer screen, where a computer game was running. It looked like some form of Space Invaders. However as soon as he heard Kurt's familiar *BAMF* he closed the game down.  
  
"Oh my Stars and Garters," he exclaimed after he took one glance at the little red marks. " Help me lift her up onto the table," He instructed Scott who gently lifted her by her arms, (which he was still holding) while Hank grabbed her waist and hoisted her up onto the examination table.  
  
"She says they itch, and she won't try to stop scratching them." Scott explained, continuing to hold Rogue's hands. "I had to stop her from scratching, she was getting violent"  
  
Hank nodded showing he understood. Then he got up and took a few different things from draws around the room. Scott kept looking at the little red marks. She let out a blood-curdling scream, which made all of the men in the room wince.  
  
Hank pulled out a large needle and a little bottle of something. He quickly filled the needle with the fluid from the jar. "Hold her as still as you can Scott,"  
  
Scott nodded and increased his hold on her arms. She didn't seem to be looking in Hank's direction so she didn't put up much of a fight when he jabbed the needle into her arm. She kept fighting against Scott for a few seconds, then the drug kicked in and she went limp in Scott's arms. He awkwardly held her for a few seconds until Hank helped to lay her down on the hospital stretcher.  
  
"Now she's asleep, we can take a look at that rash." Hank said, placing the used syringe in the bin. He put on some plastic disposable gloves and cut off her uniform. Scott and Kurt blushed when her underwear was exposed but Hank seemed undeterred. He gently ran his fingers over a particularly large red lump near her belly button. It was bigger and redder than the rest of the lumps. It even seemed to throb.  
  
All of a sudden Hank said quietly yet politely, "Kurt, go and get the Professor please."  
  
"Ok Mr. McCoy, one Professor coming up," He teleported out, leaving the familiar sulphur smell behind  
  
Hank and Scott looked on in amazement in what they were seeing. The biggest red lump, the one near her belly button, erupted like a mini volcano, a white gooey substance pouring out over her skin. Soon after, one on her face did the same thing, then one on the back of her wrist.  
  
All of the little red marks eventually popped, releasing the goo. The goo spread out over her skin, creating a thin layer.  
  
"Scott get me that test tube over there," He pointed to a spare test tube sitting on the counter. Scott quickly grabbed it and handed it to Hank who held it up against Rogues skin. A small amount fell into the tube, just like Hank had planned. He quickly put a stopper in the top and placed the tube in one of the pockets of his lab coat.  
  
Suddenly all of the muscles in her body tensed which caused her to arch her back. Her breathing became quick and harsh, as though she was gasping for air. Her voice croaked out in a half scream, until she relaxed and finally collapsed fully on the bed. Her breathing relaxed and became even and steady.  
  
At that moment, Kurt teleported back with the Professor with him. The Professor rolled his chair forward so that he was directly next to Rogue's bed.  
  
Hank began to explain, but the Professor cut him off. "No need to explain Hank, Kurt has told me all about it," He looked at the little red marks which were still spilling out goo. "That looks quite painful. Have you taken a sample?" He asked Hank who nodded silently in response.  
  
Scott cleared his throat, trying not to look at Rogue, "I think Kurt and I should go have a shower now,"  
  
The Professor nodded, "Yes that would be good, I'll keep you updated on her condition don't worry."  
  
"Thanks Professor," Kurt said quietly, and followed Scott who was quietly walking out the door.  
  
As soon as the two students were out of the room, Hank started setting up a Heart-rate monitor. The professor sighed "There isn't really anything we can do for her except to make sure she is comfortable, and not in any pain. Plus we should monitor her condition constantly. We don't know what'll happen so it's the safest thing we can do."  
  
"Ok Charles. I'll be here all day, so I can keep track of any changes in her condition. Plus I'll set up a video camera so we can have 24 hour surveillance." Hank explained. "And I'll get the results of the tests I do on that substance to you as soon as I have them."  
  
Charles nodded and wheeled over to the door, "If anything happens, tell me straight away. If her powers are really evolving we need to be careful"  
  
Hank nodded and went about setting up the Camera.  
  
***  
  
All of the students who lived at the institute were preoccupied for the rest of the day. Even Jean, who couldn't stop thinking about the time that Rogue supposedly risked her life to help her, when her powers first started to evolve.  
  
To Kitty, Kurt and Evan, they couldn't believe how slow the day went by. Scott was annoyingly restless. Out of the entire X -Men he probably knew Rogue best. He knew why she acted the way she did, and the fact that she wasn't the cold-hearted Goth girl that everybody thought she was.  
  
So as soon as the bell rang to mark the end of school, all five students ran out of the school faster than normal. Kurt and Evan had Maths next door to each other last period so they ran into the boys toilets and teleported straight back to the institute from there.  
  
Scott and Jean left in Scott's car. Completely forgetting that they had to give Kitty a lift home.  
  
Kitty watched sadly as her ride drove out of the school car park and out onto the main road. "Great" she cried, throwing her arms into the air in despair. She glared at the retreating car for a little then stalked back up into the main School building so that she could call home for someone to come and pick her up.  
  
She picked up the receiver and started to dial the number for the institute but someone behind her placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned around to see who was there, and came face to face with Lance Alvers.  
  
"Lance! What are you doing here?" She asked placing the receiver back down on its hook  
  
"I wanted to talk to you. You've been distracted all day," He said concerned, his dark messy hair falling over his eyes.  
  
"Have I?" She asked, trying to sound light-hearted, as if she didn't know what he was talking about. Lance nodded slowly.  
  
Kitty sighed, "It's just I'm worried about Rogue." As soon as she mentioned the name Rogue, Lance's face twisted into a face of concern for his former teammate.  
  
"Rogue? What happened to Rogue?" Lance asked hurriedly.  
  
"The Professor says that her powers are evolving, it started this morning in the middle of our Danger Room session. And Scott and Jean have forgotten that they were giving me a ride home, so now I have to call and get Logan to come and pick me up, and I don't like riding with him he's dangerous and-" She continued to babble on until Lance cut her off.  
  
"Tell you what, I'll give you a lift home. If you let me go and see Rogue."  
  
"Deal," Kitty said then frowned a bit, "Just try to avoid Scott, he'll get all protective and all."  
  
"Don't I know it." He shuddered. She smiled and then headed towards Lance's Jeep.  
  
The car ride home with Lance made her feel a little better, but she still couldn't forget about Rogue lying on that Hospital bed, covered in that stuff, in pain.  
  
Not long after, they reached the gate to the Institute; she hopped out and punched in a few numbers into the security keypad. A few seconds later there was a beep and the gates opened. Lance slowly drove up to the front door. Kitty phased through the door of the car, while Lance jumped over the side. The both quickly walked up the steps.  
  
When they reached the top, Kitty grabbed Lance's hand and said "Welcome to the Kitty Express, Non-stop to Rogue" She bolted towards the infirmary, going straight through several walls and down a few levels. In 2 minutes they were outside the Infirmary door. Lance looked a bit shaken up, but Kitty looked normal. She opened the door and walked in.  
  
The rest of the Team were all standing in there, even the Rookies. There was a quiet chatter echoing around the room. Everyone turned around to see who had came in, and when they saw Lance, a unanimous movement of hostility went around the room. Except for Hank of course, who kept typing on his computer. He hadn't seemed to have even noticed that there were about 25 students in the room.  
  
Rogue had obviously been moved to a more secluded room, because she wasn't lying on the hospital bed in the middle of the room anymore. In fact the only sign that she had even been in the room was the fact that her ripped up uniform had been thrown haphazardly into the rubbish bin.  
  
Lance gulped when all of the Xmen turned and looked at him in that way. Kitty scowled and went and stood in front of him "There is no way you are like, doing anything to him while I'm here. He's my guest and I invited him."  
  
"Are you crazy Kitty? He's the enemy!" Scott cried his eyebrows narrowing in suspicion.  
  
That statement caused Kitty to scowl even more. "He might be the enemy in your eyes Scott, he's my friend and he is also a good friend of Rogue's. He has a right to know if she's improved or not."  
  
Lance was about to add something on the end of Kitty's statement, but Hank intervened before he had a chance to say anything. "Now children, no fighting inside, and especially not while I'm around. Anyway I'm assuming that you wish to know what Rogue's condition is?"  
  
Everybody nodded, including Lance, who was still standing behind Kitty and keeping an eye out for Scott, who he could tell was shooting looks of painful death from behind his shades.  
  
"She's stable. Nothing has really changed except her blood pressure level, which is justifiable."  
  
"Thankyou Hank, we'll be going now," Jean said quietly. She ushered everybody out into the Hall, and shut the door behind them. Lance smiled at Kitty, "Thanks for telling me, can you keep me informed?" Kitty nodded and smiled back. He kissed the top of her head and walked out, "See you tomorrow at school," He waved behind him, causing a small tremor that came and went in a few seconds  
  
As soon as Lance was out of sight Scott cornered Kitty. "Why did you invite him? He isn't welcome here?" He yelled at her.  
  
"I invited him in after he dropped me off at home, because someone who shall remain nameless forgot that they were giving me a lift home. As one of Rogue's and my friends He had a right to know.  
  
"Just because he is part of the Brotherhood doesn't mean that he is banned from this house. The only person who can do that is Professor X and until he does I will continue to invite my friends over whenever I please." Kitty yelled straight back, then turned around and stalked back down the hallway, mumbling an excuse about studying for a big English Essay.  
  
Scott looked a bit taken aback, and a bit embarrassed. So once again Jean encouraged everyone else to follow Kitty's example and go study. Everyone reluctantly did as she asked, except for Scott, who Jean held back.  
  
"Scott, I know that what's happening to Rogue is affecting us all, but you need to lay off everyone a bit. Kitty is right, Lance did have a right to know, no matter which side he is fighting for." Jean said in a calming voice. "Now go and do your Chem. Homework."  
  
Scott still looked peeved but still did as Jean had said, and walked down the Hallway that everyone else had gone down. Jean let out a loud sigh; the tension in this house was getting so thick you could cut it with a knife.  
  
She started to walk towards Cerebro, where she was meeting the Professor, for her daily lessons when Hank popped his head out the door, looking quite bothered. "Jean quick tell the professor to get down here quick, tell him it's important,"  
  
Jean relayed the message mentally and received an answer almost straight away, Ok Jean tell Hank I'll be there as soon as I can.  
  
Jean walked back into the Infirmary and through another door that led to the Private Rooms. Rogue was lying on the bed with Hank leaning over her, strapping something to her face. An Oxygen mask. Her chest was rising and falling very fast, and Jean could hear her rasping, as though she was struggling for air.  
  
"He said he's on his way," She told him, then asked what was happening to Rogue.  
  
"Well the goo is hardening, and her body is adjusting. Plus she isn't breathing very well," Hank said quickly, "Can you pass me that thing over there?" He pointed to a little machine sitting on the table in the corner of the room. Jean levitated it over to Hank who caught it, and attached it to Rogue's middle finger.  
  
"Can I do anything to help?" Jean offered.  
  
"Yes actually make sure she isn't in any pain, check her head." He said hastily.  
  
Jean nodded and moved closer to Rogue. She placed her palms on either side of Rogue's head and entered her mind. As soon as she was inside, she was bombarded with people. All the people that Rogue had absorbed. Kitty, Logan, even her, were all standing around, looking angry, stalking towards her in the one angry mob. She pushed them away with her mind and locked them up in a mental box.  
  
Once they were all cleared, she finally spotted Rogue. She was standing in the middle of the space, with her hands holding her head.  
  
She didn't look like she was in pain, just as though she was exhausted and she had to hold her head up because her neck wasn't strong enough anymore. As soon as she saw Jean a look of relief came upon her face. "It's so nahce to see someone who doesn't want to kill meh" Rogue said relieved.  
  
Jean smiled, "I'm not here for long, Hank sent me in to make sure you're not in any pain." Rogue shook her head.  
  
"Nope not at the moment, it only hurt when those thingies were covering mah skin. But that's all gone."  
  
"That's good," Jean nodded, "You look exhausted."  
  
Rogue smiled sadly, "Yeah well, my body mahght be unconscious and getting rest, but mah mind is usually awake 23 hours out of 24. It sorta does wear you down after a while. Ah usually have to keep all the people in mah head at bay, or I'm dreaming someone else's nightmares, it's not the sort of lahfestyle you should have if you want sleep."  
  
"Well, I can try and keep the nightmares away for a little while so you can get some sleep, I've already gotten rid of the people. Well temporarily at least."  
  
"You'd really do that for meh?" Rogue asked sceptically. Jean smiled and nodded.  
  
"Yeah sure, just point me to where they come from, and I'll block it. I don't know how long the block will last, but it should give you time to have some sleep."  
  
"They come from ovah there, "She pointed to her left, "But there are a lot of them, and some are strongah than others."  
  
"Ok I'll take that into account." Jean turned to the space where Rogue had pointed. Even though the landscape around them didn't really consist of any colour, just a blank space, the place that Rogue had pointed to was full of colour. It was like a spiral of paint. Every now and then a picture would form from the colours, like a green landscape or the high skyscrapers of New York City, or someone's face. Then all of a sudden a huge horrible monster appeared, making Jean jump.  
  
Rogue laughed softly, "Don't look at the things in there, it'll just put you of it, trust me. Pretend they're not there."  
  
Jean nodded and tried again. This time she concentrated on placing a wall up. In a few seconds the colour disappeared and was replaced by a think black wall.  
  
"That should do it. Now you can sleep." Jean said softly. Rogue looked extremely relieved. A large bed appeared in the middle of the space, not far from Rogue, she walked over to it and lay down. She was asleep the minute her head hit the pillow.  
  
Jean smiled and exited Rogues mind. Once she was back in her own body she stumbled a little bit. Trying to regain her balance. Hank was no longer bustling about the room doing things for Rogue. He was standing in the corner looking relieved. She looked back down at Rogue who was now sleeping soundly, with the Oxygen mask still attached to her face. There was also what looked like a layer of thick plastic covering her skin. Almost like glass, yet it held a certain sense of Rogueness about it.  
  
Someone started clapping from behind her. She turned around and saw Professor X giving her applause. She smiled weakly and nodded.  
  
"Don't worry about our lesson today Jean, You've done enough." The Professor said kindly. "Go upstairs and have a sleep."  
  
Jean nodded and headed out the door.  
  
Professor X sighed once she was gone. "We'll need to have more monitoring, I'll draw up a roster of monitoring times for us adults. We don't know what'll happen next, and I don't want to have it happen when everyone is asleep. We were lucky today, but we can't rely on luck for everything,"  
  
"Ok Charles, I'll get Logan and Ororo down here now." Hank began to pick up the phone, but Professor X stopped him.  
  
"They're on their way here anyway." He wheeled his chair over to Rogue. "Have you got the results of that substance yet?"  
  
"Yes and no, it's very puzzling. It's similar to Plasma but it's not the right colour, I'm assuming it's a substance that has something to do with the X Gene. There are only so many tests you can do with something like this. The only thing I could figure out is that it's very similar. almost identical to her Blood."  
  
"Interesting." The Professor looked intrigued, "Any more information tell me straight away."  
  
At that moment, Logan and Ororo walked through the door. "You called Chuck?" Logan asked gruffly.  
  
"Yes, We'll need to monitor Rogue constantly now, so I'm going to make up a Roster for the four of us. Is that Ok with you two?"  
  
They both nodded. Ororo volunteered to take the first shift, and Logan took the next shift.  
  
"Ok, if anything happens at all, tell me straight away." The Professor instructed. "And be careful at all times, we have no idea what might happen."  
  
*** 


	2. Chapter 2

Nothing happened to Rogue for two days. When something totally unexpected occurred. It was Logan's turn to watch Rogue.  
  
He was sitting in the Chair that had been set up next to her bed reading a book. Not something he usually did but had taken to while he was watching her. These sessions usually got a little bit boring, so it has sort of become a necessity.  
  
He turned the page when he felt a slight rumbling. He stood up and put his book down. He sniffed the air but didn't smell Avalanche anywhere. The rumbling gradually got stronger and stronger to the point that the heavy filing cabinet at the side of the room moved and knocked into Logan. He glanced up at Rogue for the first time since the rumbling to see Rogue holding her arms up in the air.  
  
*** For the first time in about a month, Toad had been locked in the bathroom by his housemates, who had gotten so sickened by his stench. He didn't think he smelled too bad, it could be worse right?  
  
Toad grabbed a bottle of something off the rack. "Shampoo" He read aloud, "Wonder what this stuff is?" He squirted half the bottle out onto his hand, and rubbed it on his arms. Tabitha wouldn't mind if he used this stuff, she was one of the ones who had shoved him in here.  
  
Just as he leaned over to grab another bottle of "Conditioner" Toad was knocked over in the bath. He yelled out the door to Lance, "Yo! Lance! Lighten up on the shakes man, I'm having a bath."  
  
He heard him yell back; quite annoyed "It's not me! I'm the last one who would want to disturb your monthly bath."  
  
***  
  
The rumbling continued to occur until her arms fell down weak at her sides. The rumbling instantly stopped. Logan picked up the phone and called the Professor's office.  
  
"Logan?" He answered, "What happened?"  
  
"You know those earthquakes we just had? Stripes caused them."  
  
"Ok then. Keep a close watch on her from now on, I'll tell Hank and Ororo about this development."  
  
"Ok Chuck, talk to you later."  
  
***  
  
Kitty grabbed her backpack and ran out of her room. She ran down the stairs and into the Kitchen. Logan was there as usual, eating his toast, looking at the paper.  
  
"Good morning Logan," She said as cheerfully as she could. Logan growled his usual response of: "Mornin' Half Pint."  
  
The water boiled on the stove, so Kitty grabbed to Coffee cups and poured herself a tea and Logan his regular deadly strong Coffee. She handed it to him, and he nodded his thanks.  
  
"How is she?" She asked quietly. She popped some bread in the Toaster and adjusted the settings so that the Toast would only be lightly cooked.  
  
"Pretty much the same, except she's displaying the powers of people she's absorbed. Like yesterday, she was the one who caused that rumbling, not Lance." Logan told her sipping on his coffee.  
  
"That's amazing, the last time she absorbed Lance was like, ages ago. As far as I know anyway." Kitty said in awe.  
  
"Yeah we know," Logan folded up the paper, and turned to look at Kitty. "The Professor was gonna tell everybody this morning."  
  
Kitty nodded, and watched as her toast popped out of the toaster, slightly yellow in the middle.  
  
"How can you eat that, it's barely even cooked?" Logan asked, a sickened look on his face. Kitty grinned and grabbed the peanut butter out of the cupboard.  
  
"I've always liked it like this, No traces of Charcoal." She spread a thin layer of the peanut butter on both slices and then bit down hard into one. "Mmm. Yummy." She said smiling.  
  
"I'll never understand you Half Pint." Logan said as he stood up. He gulped down the rest of his coffee and strolled out of the room, "See you this afternoon in the Danger Room."  
  
"Bye!" She waved him goodbye and continued devouring her toast. She didn't notice when Scott walked in the door, until he sat down next to her.  
  
Scott cleared his throat. Kitty looked up, when she saw Scott she looked straight back down at her toast. "I'm not in the mood to argue Scott. Go away."  
  
"I'm not either. I didn't come to argue, I came to apologise. You were right and I was wrong. Lance did have a right to know, and I'm sorry for yelling at you and Lance."  
  
"Apology accepted, but I'm like, not going to tell Lance that you apologised to him, you have to do that yourself." She said softly yet clearly.  
  
Scott looked a bit peeved, but he agreed. "I'll apologise to him in Maths today."  
  
"Good," She stood up and placed her plate in the dishwasher. "Remember you're picking me up this afternoon. Don't forget."  
  
"I won't." Scott ran his hand through his hair and grabbed an apple from the bowl in front of him. Today was going to be another one of those days.  
  
***  
  
Over the next few days, she showed other people's powers as well. While Ororo was watching her, she accidentally phased through the bed, and landed on the floor underneath the bed. Kitty had to be called home to help get her out.  
  
A day later she also grew blue fur and her fingers fused together for about an hour when it was Hank's shift. However luckily for Rogue she malted soon after, and she regained her usual 5 digits on both hands. Everyone was also relieved that she didn't decide to use Kurt's other mutation, of teleportation. It would've been a horrible occurrence.  
  
Also in another of Hank's shifts, Bone claws popped out of her knuckles. That was the only time when she ever made a noise from her lips. But it wasn't pleasant as she screamed for about half an hour before they retracted in. The wounds healed straight away, but Hank was a bit shocked so Logan relieved him for a while.  
  
Unfortunately enough for Logan, it was during one of his shifts that she showed Magneto's power. Everything that was metal in the room started floating around the room; so of course that included Logan. When Professor X came to relieve him, the Professor found it hard not to contain a chuckle.  
  
About five minutes after Professor X took over the shift, Magneto's power stopped, and everything that had been floating around the room fell down to the ground. Luckily, the Professor caught him before he hit the floor.  
  
The two last powers she displayed, were both witnessed by Professor X. Both happened within moments of each other.  
  
First was Storm's weather manipulation. Above her body, a rain cloud formed and started to pour down rain. He mentally created a shield to stop Rogue from getting wet, and called for Storm telepathically. When she got to the room, she could only make sure that no lightening was produced, but could not stop the falling of the rain. It caused the room to start to flood, several inches of water was beginning to cover their feet.  
  
When the rain did stop, the water thankfully disappeared, saving a very time-consuming and costly cleanup. Storm seemed to be thinking the very same thing as Professor X.  
  
"Well I'm glad that's finished," Storm said, relieved. She grabbed her hair, and wringed out the extra water.  
  
"Let's hope it's the last we'll see of her borrowed power spree." The Professor said sincerely. He removed the shield he had placed on her.  
  
"I wonder if she'll be able to recall the powers of anybody she has touched once she wakes up." Storm wondered out loud.  
  
"Well, if that does happen, she will become one of the most powerful mutants on the earth. Her mutation does give her the potential for limitless power."  
  
"Limitless power? For a girl of 16? How could she handle it?" Storm said shocked.  
  
The Professor nodded solemnly, "We don't know how she would handle it. After all it's only a possibility, it may never happen at all."  
  
There was a pregnant pause until he continued, "What worries me most about that possibility is if the power would go to her head, or she becomes a danger to herself or others around her."  
  
"I don't believe that Rogue would ever knowingly become a danger to the people around her, she is one of the most considerable people I know. Though not many notice the little things she does."  
  
"I know what you are saying. The amount of care she takes in making sure she doesn't make skin-to-skin contact with anybody unless she has to of course."  
  
There was a long silence until Storm spoke up. "The children should be home soon, it's 3:30," Storm said, checking her watch. "If you want I'll give them the daily update."  
  
"That would be great, I want to stay with her for the rest of my shift."  
  
Ororo nodded, she headed out the door.  
  
It was that moment when the next power and last power showed itself. Though the Professor didn't notice it at first, but when he did it was almost too late. As a red glow had started to form behind her eyes.  
  
He mentally called Scott to come to Rogue's hospital room as fast as he could. A few seconds later he was teleported in by Kurt who had his blue fuzzy three-fingered hand on Scott's shoulder.  
  
"Give me you glasses quick," The Professor instructed him quickly. Scott was about to ask why until he saw the red light that was beginning to build behind her eyes. He then quickly grabbed his glasses off his face and passed them to the Professor, while making sure his eyes were tightly shut.  
  
He grabbed his battle visor from his pocket and placed them in front of his eyes, while the Professor placed his normal Ruby-Quartz glasses in front of Rogue's eyes.  
  
They were placed there just in time. A millisecond after they were placed on her face her eyes were forced open by the optic blasts that were emerging from her eyes. Luckily the Ruby-Quartz glasses absorbed the force of the blasts, just as planned.  
  
"Thank you Scott," The Professor breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Anytime, I was just lucky that Kurt was standing right next to me,"  
  
"Dat vas close man," Kurt said in awe. Scott nodded, looking a bit weird with his battle visor on while he was wearing his school clothes.  
  
"A little too close for comfort if you ask me." The Professor wheeled his chair back away from her bed. "Scott could you just look after her for about an hour, and tell me when the power fades. I need to have a bit of a rest."  
  
Scott nodded and Kurt spoke up, "I'll stay vith you to keep you company. Ya?"  
  
Scott looked to the Professor, who nodded in consent.  
  
***  
  
She stayed in a relatively stable condition after that. The hardened goo still stayed, but every now and then it would cloud over, stopping them from seeing her through it. It would always clear up after an hour afterwards though.  
  
As soon as the adults knew that she wouldn't be using anyone else's powers, they let the students take turns in watching her, as long as they were always in pairs. And only the older "Senior" students were allowed in by themselves.  
  
First Kitty and Evan had a shift, then Jean and Kurt, and after that Scott, Kitty and Jamie. (Who had asked to see Rogue) When it was Jean and Evan's turn it was a Monday, exactly one week from the day that she started to evolve. It was also a student free day at school, as there was another accident in the school Gym, which caused in part of it falling down. So they had to have builders come in to repair it so that it could be used again.  
  
Evan and Jean were both doing their homework, when Evan heard a faint sound coming from Rogue's direction.  
  
"Hey Jean, you hear that?" He asked her, putting down his French homework. Jean stopped what she was doing as well, and listened intently. A small cracking sound came from Rogue's direction.  
  
"It sounds like. Cracking?" she said in awe. She stood up and walked over to Rogue's bedside. Small cracks were beginning to form in the covering she had over her body. Evan came over and stood on the other side of the bed.  
  
"It is, see here, and here," he pointed to the two main regions where it was cracking, at a spot on her left wrist and her stomach.  
  
A huge crack formed, beginning at her forehead and continuing all the way down her face, and past the base of her neck.  
  
All of a sudden she began to cough, her chest rising and falling heavily, shattering the hard cocoon that had encompassed her for almost a week.  
  
Her hands reached up to her face in her first major movement in days, and removed the Oxygen mask that had helped her breathe for most of the time she was unconscious. All of the spare shards of the "cocoon" fell off her face and onto her bed sheets.  
  
She coughed a little more, and eventually opened her eyes. She smiled up at Jean and Evan, who smiled back. She began to sit up, but as her body wasn't used to the movement, she found it hard to move herself. Jean covered her hands so as not to touch Rogue's skin and helped her to sit up, placing some pillows behind her friends back for support.  
  
As she still wasn't wearing much more than her underwear, Evan blushed and turned away, while Jean helped Rogue to put on a spare hospital gown that she found in a drawer of the bedside table.  
  
"Evan, call the others and tell them that Rogue has woken up," Jean said quietly.  
  
Rogue blinked and looked around the room, looking a bit confused. "Whe." she coughed a little, then continued, " Where am Ah?"  
  
"In a private hospital room, we moved you here." Jean said softly and quietly. "Do you remember anything?"  
  
Rogue nodded, then shook her head. " Ah can remembah bits and pieces. It's all blurry, I can't figure it all out. It's all mixed up," She frowned slightly as though she was trying to remember.  
  
"Don't worry about it too much, it's not important." Jean whispered in a soothing voice.  
  
"Ah do remembah one thing, but Ah can't remembah where from." She said her voice cracking slightly.  
  
Jean nodded, "Go on," she urged.  
  
"You helped to hold off the people, and the memories," She said smiling, "That was the best sleep Ah've had in ages. Thankyou,"  
  
Jean smiled back, "Anytime,"  
  
Evan spoke up, a huge grin pasted on his face " You better be prepared for a lot of visitors, people are very happy you're awake Rogue."  
  
"How long have Ah been asleep?" She asked in her still soft voice.  
  
"A week exactly," Evan told her instantly, "Trust me, everyone has been counting the days."  
  
Rogue smiled faintly, she began to say something but was interrupted by a barrage or people streaming through her door. Logan, Ororo, Hank, the Professor, Scott, Kurt, Kitty, Bobby, Jamie, Jubilee, all of the New Xmen, filed into the rather small hospital room. Rogue looked a bit disgruntled that there were so many people paying so much attention to her.  
  
"How do you feel Rogue?" The Professor asked kindly, a smile coating his words.  
  
"Good actually, Ah feel exactly the same as before, except mah feet are dead. There is absolutely no circulation down there." She wiggled her ankles a little bit, "Could someone help meh stand up, Ah don't want to stay in this bed anymore than Ah have too."  
  
Evan and Jean who were still closest to her, helped her swing her legs off the bed and onto the ground. Rogue lent slight on Jean when she stood up, just to steady herself.  
  
She stood up straight and walked over to the Professor, "Ah imagine you want to do some tests on meh?" she said a little warily, "Can we get them ovah quickly? Ah want to make sure that Kitty hasn't totally remodelled mah room to her liking,"  
  
Kitty gasped angrily, "I haven't done anything to our room," She paused angrily. Then she put a finger to the side of her mouth ".except to that blank spot on the wall, where I put up that Heath Ledger poster. and I got rid of that horrible mirror above the wardrobe."  
  
Rogue cut her off furiously, "What did you do to that Mirror? That was mah favourite thing in that whole damn room!"  
  
Kitty smiled, "I was just kidding, it was a joke!" Rogue glared at Kitty.  
  
"Calm down, I only have one test which won't take long." The Professor held up his hands in a calming fashion.  
  
Rogue sighed, "You want meh to touch someone don't you?" The Professor nodded. Logan stepped forward.  
  
"You can touch me, I have the only power that isn't really a danger to anyone, and she only has to touch me for a second. Plus, if there is anything she needs that needs to be healed."  
  
"Yes, that's right. Can we have a little privacy?" The Professor turned to all of the students who were standing in the room. One by one they all began to file out of the room, Storm taking up the rear.  
  
"I'll start making some dinner," Ororo told the Professor who nodded. Once they were all out of the room, except for Beast, Jean (who was still helping Rogue stand up, as she hadn't fully got her strength back.) and Logan the Professor turned to Rogue, "Rogue, if you don't mind, would you just lightly touch Logan please."  
  
She gulped and gently pushed her finger towards Logan. Hank moved behind Logan, so if he did collapse, he would be caught instead of potentially hurting himself on the fall down.  
  
As soon as she touched Logan's cheek and she felt the familiar rushing sensation, she pulled her finger away. She saw Logan's knees buckle underneath him, and Hank catch him underneath the armpits.  
  
Logan wasn't fully knocked out, only semiconscious. His eyes stayed a little bit unfocused for a few seconds until they focused on something in front of him. He gradually regained the strength to stand up by himself.  
  
Rogue looked crestfallen. She avoided all eye contact with everybody in the room. "Ah guess it didn't happen then," She sniffed quietly, "Ahh well, no biggy," She smiled sadly.  
  
"Stripes." Logan started but Rogue cut him off.  
  
"No Logan, Ah should've known that even going through something like that wouldn't help meh control mah power. It's mah own fault for getting mah hopes up."  
  
The Professor exchanged a quick glance with Beast and Logan. Rogue turned to Jean, "Can you take me up to my room, I need to change into my normal clothes. Then we can go get food, Ah'm starving." She muttered.  
  
Jean nodded, "Ok let's go Rogue. You don't need her anymore Mr McCoy?" She asked Hank who was no longer holding up Logan. He shook his head.  
  
"Then let's go," she said to Rogue, who had already started walking towards the door.  
  
***  
  
Over the next few days, things began to fall back into their old routine. Rogue regained her old Gothic attitude and manners. She and Kitty had already had an argument over some new posters that Kitty had put up in their room, and she was going to go back to school on the Monday of the next week.  
  
The only real changes in their lifestyle was that Rogue and Jean were now on speaking terms because of the rest that Jean had given Rogue, and that Rogue now had special focusing lessons with Professor X just like Jean every day. As they had made a startling discovery at dinner one night.  
  
Kitty and Rogue were talking the whole way down to the dining room. Kitty had made it her personal goal to fill Rogue in on everything that had happened while she was unconscious.  
  
"When Scott went up to apologise to Lance he went so red in the face, he resembled a beetroot!" Kitty giggled and walked through the closed door.  
  
To everyone's surprise Rogue forgot that Kitty didn't need to open doors, and ran straight into the door. and came out the other side.  
  
Logan who was about to open the door the other way when she passed through the solid door, still talking to Kitty, said to her softly. "Hey Stripes, did you zap Kitty before you came in here?"  
  
Rogue shook her head, "No why?"  
  
Logan looked a little shocked "'Cause you just passed straight through the door."  
  
"I did?" She looked puzzled. Logan nodded.  
  
"Try it again," He instructed her. She shrugged and pressed her hand down on the door, nothing happening. "Think about her power,"  
  
She tried again, concentration showing on her face. This time, her hand went straight through the door. She looked shocked, and quickly pulled her hand back.  
  
"Whoa, that was like, awesome!" Kitty squealed jumping up and down.  
  
"I think the professor is going to want to have a look at that particular talent Stripes." Logan said gruffly before sitting down at the table.  
  
Rogue nodded, still looking a little shocked. She sat down at her usual spot in between Logan and Kurt.  
  
After several sessions with the Professor, he had helped her concentrate on using the other people's powers. Soon she could use Kitty's, Kurt's and Scott's power at will, however she tried not to use Scott's power often as when she did, she found it hardest to control and for about half an hour she had to borrow Scott's visor.  
  
The Professor had begun to work on focusing some other powers that she had stored up in the back of her brain. Like Logan's healing power, which she used to a small extent inadvertently anyway. (She healed faster than normal but didn't really take any notice until the Professor pointed it out to her.) Even Magneto's power, the Professor pinpointed and began to help her control it.  
  
Eventually all things went back to normal in the lives of the students living at the Xavier Institute. What with the daily Danger Room sessions, and the constant fighting with the Brotherhood.  
  
Rogue continued to be an outcast at her school, which she didn't mind. (With the exception of Risty of course) And she continued to do averagely in her studies, with the exception of Literature, Gym and Drama.  
  
She continued to hate waking up early in the morning, and she continued to swear at her roommate.  
  
In fact, as far as Rogue was concerned.Things couldn't get much better!  
  
***  
  
A/N: FINISHED finally. well actually it didn't take this long, only a few days. anyways. I would really appreciate it if you left comments and reviews. 


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